Thousands of people lined up again Thursday at credit unions around the Portland area on the second day of $500 relief payments the state authorized to help financially strapped Oregonians through the pandemic recession.
Moods varied considerably as the waits stretched on for hours. Someone briefly pulled a gun during a dispute in the line Thursday at a Gresham credit union, according to police, and some people reported short tempers and confrontations.
At OnPoint Community Credit Union’s Hillsdale branch, though, spirits were high and people were passing out food to keep people energized during their long waits. More than 150 people were lined up late in the morning – nearly everyone was wearing masks, but few were maintaining six feet distance from others in line.
“It’s been a nice, cool vibe out here,” said Daelon Floyd, 21, of Southwest Portland. Ninety minutes into his wait, Floyd said he felt the process was being managed well by OnPoint and by those waiting in line.
“Everybody’s been really calm and collected,” Floyd said. “They’ve been showing a lot of love out here.”
The state allocated $35 million to fund the one-time, $500 payments, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Financial institutions aren’t charging fees to the state or to recipients. That means there’s enough money to pay roughly 70,000 people.
Late Thursday, the program’s second day, the state said it had paid out 33,000 claims. At that rate, the funds may be exhausted sometime Monday (no claims will be paid over the weekend.) That could put additional stress on those waiting in line, and more pressure on those processing claims, at the start of next week.
Applicants must be Oregon residents with valid identifications, have earned less than the equivalent of $48,000 per year before the coronavirus hit, and be experiencing financial hardship because of the pandemic. (A full list of qualifications, and details on the program, are available online at https://emergencychecks.oregon.gov/.)
The money comes from Oregon’s share of federal pandemic relief funds. The Legislature approved the $500 payouts last month to compensate for the multitude of problems the Oregon Employment Department has had paying jobless claims, but recipients don’t need to have filed for unemployment to receive the $500. If they have filed, though, they only qualify for the $500 if the state is behind in paying their jobless claims.
To prevent fraud, Oregon requires applicants to show up in person to collect the money. Most participating financial institutions required applicants to book an appointment in advance by phone or online, and by Thursday most appointments appeared booked through the end of the month. By that point, the state’s money will likely be long gone.
OnPoint, though, opted not to require an appointment for those seeking aid.
“We wanted to not create additional barriers for them,” said Tory McVay, OnPoint’s the chief retail officer. He said he was surprised by how quickly the lines materialized when applications opened Wednesday, and McVay said many people lined up on the first day didn’t bring proper identification or didn’t qualify.
So on Thursday, McVay said OnPoint staff began walking the lines, reminding people of the ID requirement and handing out applications. And some branches distributed tickets to those waiting, telling ticketholders that OnPoint expected it would be able to work through the line to reach them by the end of the day.
OnPoint has 31 Oregon locations and was handling about 40% of all the payments statewide. McVay said the OnPoint was paying claims twice as fast Thursday as it did on Wednesday, the program’s first day.
“It’s way better than yesterday,” McVay said. “You wouldn’t know it by the lines, but our process improved immensely.”
Financial institutions expect to continue making payments Friday. For more information on the $500 payment program, including the financial institutions making the payments, visit the state’s website for the program at https://emergencychecks.oregon.gov.
-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway |
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